Call for Action on Technical Tree Code Amendments

Call for Action: Comment on City’s Proposed Technical Tree Code Amendments by March 18!

Portland Parks and Recreation’s Urban Forestry is proposing technical amendments to the tree code, Title 11. These amendments constitute phase 1 of a multi-year, 3-phase initiative to revise the tree code and update the Urban Forest Management Plan that guides it.

The scope and impact of these technical changes for the most part will not be as significant as the substantive amendments likely to be considered in a few years when the City will undertake broader code changes. 

However, to support the work that Urban Forestry is putting into these technical changes, we urge you to email your comments on them to TreeCodeAmendments@portlandoregon.gov by March 18. Read here for more context and a list of the proposed amendments with descriptions of each.

Where We Stand On These Proposed Amendments

We support most of the more than 30 proposed amendments. On the list, for instance, are amendments that reinforce the concept that trees are urban infrastructure, strengthen transparency and enforcement authority around Heritage Trees, place liens on properties when violations are not resolved, issue stop-work orders when regulated activities are taking place without a permit, and broaden criteria to be considered when the City reviews tree removal permit applications. For a full list of the amendments we support and those for which we propose language changes, see here.